Guinea Pig and the Deepest Canyon In The World, Peru

After a nights sleep on the rickety top bunk we felt a little better. We decided to go on the reputed free walking tour of Cusco which turned out to be very interesting. I loved Cusco as it was, and now I loved it even more after learning a small bit about its history. We went out for another delicious sushi lunch with Ruben (our tour guide) and then returned to our hostel. Dan and I managed to squeeze in a few games of table football during the rather busy day we were having. Later we went to Sarah and Sophie’s hostel as they had made pizzas for us from scratch. Getting three people to one place on time sounds easy enough however the reality is, we are often late and so the pizzas were slightly cold; our fault of course. We ate the pizzas (which were surprising good) and then went to the hostel bar for a few drinks. There was also a free salsa lesson taking place and so we all joined in trying to impress our female counterparts with our English rhythm and natural dance moves however it was not easy. The salsa is a very difficult dance and my Colombian partner was not impressed by my inability to grasp the basics. It was so much fun though and we got free drinks for taking part. After hilarious salsa dancing we felt confident and so walked out into the town In search of a bar. First we went to the highest Irish pub in the world and later to a couple of clubs. It was a really fun night!

We spent our final day In Cusco playing cards in the hostel with Tom and Sarah before going out for what we had been told was ‘the best pizza in South America.’ It was a very good pizza however it was a big claim to live up to.

Earlier in the hostel we had persuaded Huston, a new American  friend to abandon his Spanish lessons for a week and come to Arequipa with us. Amazingly, he said yes and so we inhaled the pizza and rushed back to the hostel to fetch our backpacks and take a taxi to the bus terminal. We were cutting it very fine, but luckily all went to plan, Huston bought a ticket and we all made the night bus.

We arrived in Arequipa at 7am after a freezing cold night bus. We took a taxi to our hostel and after looking around the place we (the boys) were in heaven. There was a ping-pong table, darts, a pool table and a table football table. What more could you want? This was perfect. We spent the day playing table football and pool, venturing out of the hostel for a milkshake in between games. Joanna cooked us a nice dinner and after, Huston and I decided to go out and experience Arequipa’s nightlife.  We had quite high expectations (even though it was a Wednesday) as Arequipa is Peru´s second most populous city. We went to a few bars and they were all empty. I think we went to all the bars and clubs in Arequipa hoping to find other living human beings but to no avail. We settled on one club with the most amount of people and had really good fun together. We also finished the night around 3am in a salsa bar. The perfect way to lose all respect and dignity for ourselves through our dire dance moves.

The following day, we became true tourists and visited a top trip advisor recommended activity – the monastery of Santa Catalina. It was beautiful, however there were 22 rooms to visit and all of them were identical. After the 7th room we had got the idea. I hate to say it, but the last 15 rooms were a bit tedious, although i cannot go against the majority who have rated the monastery 4.5 stars on trip advisor.

We had a Nutella crepe and then booked a 3 day 2 night tour into the deepest canyon in the world – the Colca Canyon. What wasn’t so appealing about the tour however was the 3am pick up time in the morning. After interrupted sleep on the glacial bus and a few hours of drunken sleep the next night, it only seemed logical for Huston and I to go out in Arequipa and see if the nightlife would be better on a Thursday. We met up with Tom and Sarah for a delicious dinner and then Huston and I split off and walked stupidly to a bar instead of getting some much-needed rest before our 3am pickup time. Our plan was to have a few drinks, get back to the hostel around 12 30, have a couple hours of sleep and then be energised and ready for the early bus. Time went by faster than we had expected, and after a few drinks our 12 30 return time seemed impossible. Huston and I did have another really fun night dancing in the club although like the night before, there was a very disappointing amount of people. We lost track of time and hilariously my alarm that I had set for 2 45am went off whilst we were insIde the club!!!! So we jumped in a taxi, rushed back to the hostel feeling rather drunk and got our 3am bus 15 minutes later with no sleep. Was it worth it? I think so.

We arrived into a town called Chivay (on the outskirts of the canyon) and had a quick breakfast. We then drove to a lookout where you can see Condors flying overhead. Condors are very impressive, majestic birds. They have a 3 metre wingspan and resemble eagles somewhat. What we didn’t know and what really surprised us was that the locals lay out dead animals at the lookout to assure the birds come and so that the tourists are guaranteed to see them. Anything to keep a smile on the tourists faces’.

We arrived at the start of the trek and met with our group – 3 Americans and 2 other Brits. We set off down into the canyon descending a total of just over 1000m in 3 hours. The path was very dusty and rocky and we all finished with grey legs and dusty throats; the scenery was very beautiful however. Doing another trek only a few days after the Inca trail means our expectations are extremely high. Unfortunately nothing can compare to the Inca trail however the Colca Canyon is very striking. We had alpaca for lunch and then Huston and I had a much-needed rest before returning to watch the World Cup (in the tiny kitchen hut) – Holland vs Spain which was an incredible match. Holland played phenomenally. We went to bed in our cobbled floor huts and slept surprisingly well. 

We awoke to one tasty banana pancake which was very nice but not quite substantial enough for a morning of trekking. We left camp and walked on relatively flat ground for three hours before arriving at the oasis (a small area of greenery at the bottom of the canyon). Along the way, we stopped to buy guinea pig as it is a local delicacy in Peru. Omar (our guide) broke its neck with his bare hands right in front of us and then cut it in half to remove the intestines. It was quite gruesome to watch but tasted quite good; fairly similar to lamb although there was hardly any meat. WARNING – Gruesome picture below 

The oasis also had a swimming pool which was very refreshing; enjoyable after a morning of hiking. Alpaca was on the lunch menu again which was tasty (similar to beef) and then we spent the afternoon sunbathing in front of the pool and watching the football (Costa Rica vs Uruguay and more importantly England vs Italy). It was so disappointing to watch as our World Cup hopes dissipated after the second goal. The final whistle blew and our hearts sank. A solemn dinner followed.

We went to bed early, partly from depression and partly as we had an early wake up (5 15am).

We left camp by 5 30am and started walking up the canyon. Waking up so early means avoiding the heat of the sun making trekking far easier. It took us 2 hours to climb over 1000m which is quite fast and we met the sunrise at the top; perfect timing. It wasn’t too hard a climb, especially after having walked the Inca trail a few days prior.

We had breakfast at the top of the canyon in Cabanaconde and then drove 2 hours to thermal pools. They were amazing! So so nice after a few days trekking; just what we needed.

After an hour of pure, unspoilt relaxation, we headed back to Arequipa via a lunch buffet in which I ate far too much. On the way back, we were driving and saw an overturned minivan that had crashed around 10 minutes before we passed. We stopped immediately and took in the shocked and injured passengers and diverted our route to the hospital. I think they were ok, but the crash was awful. We eventually arrived back into Arequipa after a long drive and went for a chocolate waffle at the crepe restaurant. As expected, it was delicious although I’m sure it was not too healthy and nutritious especially after a 3 day hike. My kind of dinner!

Unfortunately the time had come to say goodbye to Huston and go our separate ways. I became really good friends with him and hopefully I will see him in the near future. After an emotional goodbye we went back to the hostel, showered and went to bed. We were all very tired.

A Week in Cusco, Peru

The bus arrived into cusco at 4am which was far earlier than we expected. We debated staying at the bus terminal but ended up taking a taxi straight to the hostel. The room was not ready but they did have some beanbags that we rested on for a couple of hours. In the morning we walked to the local artesian market, bought some Peruvian souvenirs and then had a delicious albeit expensive Chinese lunch. We relaxed in the afternoon and found the elusive Starbucks (which is banned from advertising here – not sure why). For dinner, we met up with our good Australian friends who we met on our salt flats tour and went for a cheap burger in the city centre which was also delicious and a lot cheaper than lunch. We went to bed soon after as we had had hardly any sleep on the nightlong bus.

At 9am the following day, we met up with our ozzy friends again to visit the Incan ruins on the outskirts of the city. We took a 50p bus and arrived at 3800m at an ancient, Incan fortress which was very cool. Their stone construction method was ingenious.

We have been eating out very regularly these past few weeks and continued the trend by going to a sushi restaurant in the beautiful city of cusco for lunch which was brilliant. We returned to the hostel and dan and I played a few games of table tennis. We have now started rating hostels on the quality of their ping pong tables rather than the dorms, food or showers. A good ping pong table is of paramount importance of our enjoyment of a hostel, town and even a country! Fortunately I beat him although the games are getting too close for my liking.After a terrible dinner (the gas tank ran out whilst cooking so instead of a delicious bolognese we had cold pasta with half cooked mince) we walked to our friends hostel and played drinking games for a couple of hours before going into the town to a couple of clubs. It was really good fun and the first time we’ve been out in a couple of weeks. Nightlife in Bolivia was not too good. Nightly survival rates are low.

This morning we had to change hostels. We dejectedly departed our beloved ping pong table and walked to our new accommodation which is a duel combination of a hostel and a creperie. What a fantastic idea. A creperie hostel, we were in heaven. We visited a lot of museums today. Two Incan museums, one cathedral and more notably a chocolate museum. A rather cultured day for us. We ended the day with crepes at the hostel which were amazing!

The following day we met up with Tom and Sarah (ozzy friends) and took a bus to Pisac – an ancient Incan city that lies at 3000m. We walked around the ruins for an hour or so before perching on a rock for a packed lunch. The views were fantastic, we could see the valley from start to end. The ruins were very interesting particularly because they were built at such high altitude with so few resources. We walked back down to the town which was quite strenuous on our legs but eventually we made it.

We returned to our hostel in Cusco one hour later via deadly Peruvian mountain roads. Unfortunately, this hostel does not have a ping pong table, however, it does have a table football table. Dan and I had to play. He had won the previous night 10-9 and had rubbed it in all day so I was keen for revenge. I won the second game convincingly and so we played a final game to determine who was the better player AND the better man. It was heart wrenchingly close. Dan was winning 9-6 and I made a miraculous recovery to 9-9. It was tantalisingly close. I hadn’t felt this nervous since witnessing a mugging at nighttime in Bolivia. I pulled it out the bad and won 10-9. I couldn’t believe it. I had beaten the most passionate football fan in his own miniature game. A great feeling!

In jubilation, we went to get our haircuts. We put our trust in an old Peruvian lady and the end result was slightly disappointing. Dan and I will have to wear hats for the next week or two. We had a lovely dinner with friends from the hostel later that evening.

The following day we took a long bus to a small town called Tarabamba. From here we attempted to find ´Las Salineras´ (the salt fields). Annoyingly I led us in the wrong direction and we got lost. We managed to re-trace our steps 30 minutes later and found our way to the entrance of the salt fields. It took us around an hour to climb the steepest hill, in scorching heat however when we arrived, the salt fields really were remarkable. 

We later visited Moray, a fascinating archaeological site constructed by the Inca´s.  It was incredible! Little is known about this site however it is thought it was an agricultural experiment to determine the optimal temperatures for successful crop growth.
We returned to Cusco and packed our bags for the Inca Trail. We leave in two days time!